Since I tried making my first galette earlier this year, this irresistible chocolate strawberry one, I’ve been having galettes on the mind rather often. A galette, if you’ve never had one before, is essentially a rustic version of a pie or tart. It has a similar flaky crust that’s rolled out, and it can have a fruity or savory filling, but instead of being placed in a pie dish or tart pan, the edges of the pastry dough are folded up and around the filling, forming a freeform kind-of pie.

After that initial Chocolate Strawberry Galette was such a raging success, I had dreams of a galette that could be dinner – I wanted something savory, full of veggies and cheese. From that, the Spinach Artichoke Galette was made…and subsequently devoured.

Now, in late summer, the galette gods were calling to me again, this time begging to show off one of summer’s most beautiful and flavorful bearings: heirloom tomatoes. Here at the San Diego farmer’s markets, there’s always piles of the misshapen, colorful heirloom tomatoes on the tables and I can never resist getting a bagful to last through the week.

This week, I had make sure to get a few extra heirloom tomatoes, preparing for this mozzarella heirloom tomato galette. The heirloom tomatoes are the star of the tart, with their bold color and sweet, bright flavor. It’s the simple accompaniments that really help the tomatoes shine, though.

The fresh mozzarella melts beautifully with the tomatoes, and together with the basil on top, it tastes almost like a margherita pizza. As an after thought when I was going to grab the egg for the final egg wash, I spotted some roasted garlic cloves in the fridge.

I tucked them in between the layers of tomatoes and mozzarella, and the bites with the roasted garlic were definitely the best bites. If you don’t have any on hand and don’t want to go to the trouble, you can skip it, but if you’re a roasted garlic lover like me, you may think it’s worth it. (Here’s a how-to on roasting garlic from The Kitchn, if you need it!)

There’s one pesky step I ask you to take, but I promise it’s worth it to avoid a soggy crust/watery top. Heirloom tomatoes and fresh mozzarella both have a pretty significant amount of moisture, so to help draw some of that out, you sprinkle the slices of tomato with salt. Let ’em sit for a little bit, and pat both the tomato slices and mozzarella slices dry with a paper towel before using them in the galette. It’ll help draw out some of that excess moisture, for your more inevitable galette success.

And now…last but most certainly not least – this tomato galette features an oh-my-goodness-SO-good Parmesan crust. I have dreams about this crust, and there needs to be a whole lot more Parmesan crusted galettes in my future. It blows my mind that it’s gluten-free and grain-free!

It’s made similarly to a pie crust, but with almond and tapioca flours, and a 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese in the mix. Butter helps keep things super flaky – but make sure you don’t work it in too much, because it’s those big butter blobs that help make the flakiest crust around.

Serve this mozzarella heirloom tomato galette fresh out of the oven, and reheat it in the oven or toaster oven if you have any leftovers. It was just as good reheated! Paired with a salad, this makes a wonderful lunch or dinner. Enjoy :)

Combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, salt, Parmesan cheese and butter in a food processor, or use a pastry blender in a bowl. Pulse or blend until the texture of coarse meal.

Add 1 egg and pulse/mix again until dough comes together. Turn out the dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a flat round disk, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

When ready to bake, slice the heirloom tomatoes into medium-thick slices. Lightly salt the tomato slices - this will help draw out a bit of extra moisture. Slice the mozzarella cheese into thin slices.

Lightly press both the tomatoes and mozzarella slices between two paper towels to help get rid of any extra moisture and pat them dry.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper into a large circle. You want it thick enough to be able to hold the filling and fold up the sides.

Arrange the heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella as desired - I arranged them in a circular pattern, alternating slices of each. Place the roasted garlic cloves among the tomatoes and mozzarella. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top, to taste.

Gently fold the sides up, creasing the dough together with your fingers as you go. I used the parchment to help fold up the dough so it didn’t break.

Beat the remaining egg with a splash of water in a small bowl. Brush the outside edges of the galette with the egg wash. Sprinkle the crust with a little more Parmesan cheese.

Transfer the parchment with the galette to the baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the cheese is bubbly. Check at 25 minutes and tent with foil if it’s browning too quickly.

Remove from the oven and garnishing with fresh basil before slicing and serving.